South Sudan to cut civil servant’s salaries to pay African Union

JUBA – South Sudan government has no choice, but to cut civil servant’s salaries to pay the accumulative African Union membership fees, a senior government official has said this afternoon.

This comes after the AU sanctioned South Sudan for failing to pay membership fees for a duration of three years, according to South Sudan’s mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Speaking to Sudans Post this afternoon, a finance ministry official said the government had no choice, but to cut the civil servant’s salaries for April and May, to pay the accumulative amount.

“The President has directed that civil servant’s salaries for April and May be cut so that we can pay the African Union,” the official said on condition of anonymity from Juba.

“You have understood that we haven’t been paying out membership fees for three years. On this note, we have no choice but to cut the civil servant salaries,” the official added.

South Sudan’s ambassador to Addis Ababa and the head of the country’s mission to the African Union said in a letter addressed to the government in Juba last week that the country has been sanctioned by the AU over failure to pay the membership arrears for three years.

He said in the letter seen by Sudans Post that they were expelled from an AU meeting after they were informed by the chair of the meeting that their country has been sanctioned by the continental body.

The same official also denied reports that the government has requested a loan from the Chinese government saying the Asian country could not afford to pay South Sudan because of pending loans that have not yet been paid.